#rylen x adaar

[amarmeme]

I've been drafting lately. Focusing on a four-part, modern Thedas found family AU.

All of the Inquisitors exist, five in total (two Trevelyans). They are roommates, and highly co-dependent. It's a mixed bag of tropes with each story fixed on one ship, but with background hints and elements woven throughout the other pairings.

Inquisitive:

Evelyn Trevelyan has a history of bad relationships. Her closest friends say she's emotionally inept, but she's certain her exes just weren't the right fit. An alluring stranger at The Hanged Man catches her eye though, and for a moment she feels hopeful before making a truly embarrassing mistake and ruins the first impression. Saved by an unfortunate and seemingly sinister work crisis, Evelyn heads out of town determined to forget romance. Unfortunately, the detective her boss hired to work alongside her is none other than the man at the bar: Knight-Detective Rylen MacClacher.

Will she be able to live down her mistakes and work together with Rylen to solve the poisoning of her company's well?

Carta Queen:

After a crazy one-night stand at The Hanged Man, Melly Cadash decides to keep the identity of her unexpected paramour secret, even from her friends. No one would believe the Viscount of Kirkwall would sleep with a broke, unemployed former Carta member. But then Varric Tethras asks to see her again and again, seemingly in secret, until someone vindictive on the internet places them together. After a post goes viral on Thedasapp, Melly has to come clean about who she really is to a man who could actually press charges against the crimes of her past.

With the comments of thousands eating at her, Melly starts to doubt what such a powerful figure would see in her anyway.

Friends Without Benefits

Mal Adaar and Hish Lavellan have always been best friends, even in their highly insular group of five. Trouble is, Hish has wanted Mal since the moment they met and much to her frustration, he's been oblivious to her in that way. Practically night after night, Mal hosts a new bed partner and is not ashamed to admit it. When sharing a rather thin wall becomes too much for her to bear, Hish escapes to a hideout on the Wounded Coast to decide whether she should make a move or move on.

Mal has wanted to fuck Hish since the moment they met, but she has given him zero signals along the way. She's his favorite person though, and he's sure he'd mess things up beyond repair if they slept together. So, he keeps things open and casual with pretty much any person he meets. After sensing something is off with his bestie, he plans a road trip to cheer her up, only to discover she's fled altogether.

Once they find each other again, will they be honest with one another? Or will they keep their insecurities as walls between them?

Only Time Will Heal

They've all noticed he's been missing, but Edward can't tell his best friends and roommates what he's been up to or where he's gone. As the unofficial "fixer" in his noble family, a lot of responsibilities fall on Edward that most people don't understand. When the Trevelyans threaten to destroy themselves yet again, Edward seeks out the services of a mediator in Orlais to resolve the family squabble. Sidney Caron helps solve the problem with aplomb, but Edward can't make himself leave Val Royeaux without running into her again. After a date with Sidney goes perfectly right then disastrously wrong, Edward realizes his patience and protective nature will be tested like never before.

She's more than worth the wait, but as a hands-on problem-solver, will Edward be able to give her the space she needs to meet him halfway?

[halfblood-fiend]

A Qunundrum, Remastered - Rylen x Adaar

Knight-Captain Rylen was a simple man just trying to get through his new life in the Inquisition. Keram Adaar is a Qunari, enough fucking said. He made the grievous mistake of ignoring his instincts, and accepted the beautiful Qunari’s offer–after all, a woman is a woman right? And she’s got an ass to die for!–but every moment after…was completely unplanned.

Read it on AO3

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Words: 2,306

Rating: Mature

Warning(s): It’s definitely a lemon, a lime even

Author’s Note: This is, more or less, Quenching the Thirst in the Western Approach with minor updates, grammatical fixes, no word count limitation, and posted as an actual part of Qunundrum, instead of a prequel. From here, the story will change, I hope for the better, as I have spent most of today outlining and plotting where I’d like to to go. I’m hoping, tentatively putting a deadline into the universe of an update every one to two weeks until it’s finished. I hope.

Chapter 1 - He Was Predictable

The ever awe-inspiring Inquisitor Adaar invites Rylen to move the party upstairs.

                                                         * * *

It was difficult, amid all the drunkenness and the shouting, not to get completely swept up by it all. When the Inquisitor appeared at the newly-taken Griffon Wing Keep with barrels of ale slung over both her shoulders to announce that she had freed the water supply for their soldiers, sealed away the Darkspawn and brought them a gift for their service, Knight-Captain Rylen had to laugh at her audacity. Whatever reservations he may have had in the beginning when he first learned of their Tal Vashoth leader had long since evaporated in the wake of her exploits across the country, and he was beginning to look forward to working with her in the Western Approach. If he dared say so, he may even grow to like the towering mage with her fierceness and her random acts of debauchery.

Too much like me, he mused, picking his way over slumped scouts singing a tuneless drinking song from the floor of the hastily erected Mess.

Rylen caught sight of their Inquisitor Adaar surrounded by more giddy, drunken soldiers. He watched her look over them all with a quirked eyebrow, a small secret smile tugging at the corners of her wide lips. She watched it all as if it was an amusing game for her. And maybe it was, he chuckled. How was he to know? He had never had any dealings with the Qunari before. Keram was his first.

He grinned at that and pushed the early stages of a dirty thought aside in favor of joining her at her table.

As he sat beside her, she nodded, acknowledging him. “Captain,” the Qunari woman said in her deep, vibrant voice that somehow reminded Rylen of summer nights back home. He shuddered.

“I see you have plenty of admirers now,” he told her, taking a swig from his tankard. His eyes roved over the troops at tables with arms slung around each other’s shoulders and made a mental note to let the poor sods sleep in a bit longer in the morning. But only a bit. “If you’re like this everywhere you go, it’s a wonder you haven’t taken all of Thedas by storm already,” he said conversationally.

Keram just laughed, sultry and strong. Though he hadn’t had many personal dealings with the Qunari, her smile seemed to be such a rare thing. Her angular features were better suited for scowling or sneering or being covered in gore. But her laugh? Andraste’s tits! That laugh reverberated right through him, messy helmet hair to toes. It was a strange thing.

“It’s easy to take a soldier’s heart by storm. Some ale, some sex…” she said over another chorus of toasts in her name from a neighboring table. She acknowledged them with a nod. “These men will be praising my name for weeks to come. Though, I do wonder, Captain.”

“What’s that, Inquisitor?” he prompted when she paused.

“Have you ever fucked a Qunari?”

Rylen choked on a gasp but managed to cover it with shaky laughter. “I-I—ahhh—have not, your Worship.” He cursed at himself for his stutter. The panic that appeared in his stomach was unusual for him, the kind reserved only for blushing Order recruits on their first nights at brothels. Rylen tried to cover his flush by raising his tankard to his lips and taking a long drink of ale to dislodge the sudden knot of nerves.

“Would you like to?”

He sprayed his entire mouthful all over the table.

Keram rose purposefully from her seat and made sure Rylen caught her satisfied smirk and the inviting tilt of her chin, before leaving him like a slack-jawed idiot gaping after the exaggerated sway of her hips. He watched her disappear around the corner before he regained sense enough to leap up and follow.

While she never looked back at him as she led him away from the festivities, he was sure she knew he was following her like a panting Fereldan dog. Maybe if he hadn’t already downed two mugs of ale, he would have known this was a bad idea, but when he watched the large curve of her ass as she climbed the steps, he was inclined to shout from the battlements that bad ideas were his specialty.

The woman stopped at the door to her quarters, cast him a heavy-lidded glance that heated his already burning body straight to his toes, and disappeared inside.

You’re a fool for thighs, don’t fall for it, he chastised himself before he licked his lips and entered the room after her.

Rylen didn’t know what he expected in the Inquisitor’s chamber: torture devices, naked Qunari statues, a dragon skin rug, at least, but Keram’s room was much the same as any other in the keep. Narrow windows, a sturdy bed, a fireplace, though what that was for, Rylen was never sure. It was always so fucking hot here—

Keram peeled the tunic from her body and turned to face him, causing him to lose track of every shred of sense he may have had left. Her pink-tinged skin looked almost sun-kissed, white scars crossing over her thick, muscled body. Like someone had tried to write a letter in white ink and lost track of their words after a look into her bright green eyes. He shook himself. He shouldn’t be gaping, there were far better things to do alone with a half-naked woman.

His crooked smile spread over his face and he hooked his fingers into her breeches and tugged her closer to him. She laughed again and sent thrills of excitement through his body.

Emboldened by that damn laugh, Rylen reached up and pulled her lips down to his—that would take getting used to if this was going to become a more common victory ritual. Her full mouth was hot against his own and he needed no more urging than that. His hands slid over her puckered skin, thumbing the worst of her raised scars and found the prize he came for: her tight ass and her lusciously thick thighs. He squeezed as hard as he dared and was graced with another rumbling laugh against his lips.

She pulled away from him and undid her breast band, watching him with her indulgent smirk. He hoped his eyes didn’t pop like a schoolboy’s when her large round tits bounced free right in his face. Rylen’s mouth eagerly closed around one of the dusky nipples that were too easily within his reach. Now this, he could easily get used to.

“Squeeze harder, Captain,” Keram said in between low groans that stoked a familiar heat in Rylen’s trousers, “You can’t hurt me.”

He exchanged swirling his tongue with rolling the pert nipple in his fingers long enough to look up and counter, “That’s not what I’m worried for, lass. I’d just rather not be tossed out that window because I did something you didn’t like.”

Keram laughed, breathy this time and Rylen felt the burning need settle in the depths of his stomach. Her hand ran through his hair, covering most of his head, he noticed, and he wondered how it would feel completely wrapped around his aching cock. His breath quickened.

“Don’t be foolish,” she murmured, tugging hard on the laces of his breeches, completely snapping them and freeing his throbbing cock from its confines. She leaned forward and Rylen felt her tongue along the shell of his ear. “I’d burn you to ash before I threw you out a window, Captain. Much quicker that way.” She pulled his earlobe between her teeth and Rylen shuddered violently. He had half a mind to believe she wasn’t teasing, but the other half of his mind had already fled him and could not have cared less. “Do whatever you want to me,” Keram purred suggestively, her long fingers stroking over his erection, her breath hot on his ear.

He made a guttural half-growl half-laugh and pulled away long enough to tear his shirt over his head. Keram hummed appreciatively at his exposed skin, running her hand over is chest, leaving a trail of fire.

“I mean it. Whatever you’d like.”

“Oh?” he chuckled, getting the most glorious idea. It was a terrible idea. “Well, if you insist.” Don’t do it!

He reached up to grasp one of Keram’s sweeping ornamented horns and yanked her face down to his level. The way her face changed instantly made him think that there, in fact, had been a line and he was about to die a fiery death, until she grinned the wickedest grin he had ever seen in his life and kissed him so harshly that he staggered back with the force. Her hands were merciless against his back, nails raking hard until he gasped. She devoured his pulse with her hot mouth, her large hand closing over his entire length and pumping hard and fast. He moaned—loud enough for the whole keep to hear, he reckoned—and bucked his hips against her hand, his eyes squeezing shut against the tightening in his stomach that threatened with breaking.

“Lass!” he groaned past clenched teeth, pulling a bit harder on her horn until she hissed. “Get over to that bed!”

She wasted no time in her compliance, releasing him from the blazing friction of her clutches and he struggled to regain control of himself, the pent desire uncoiling in him as surely as she had stoked it.

“Are you joining me, Rylen? Or am I to do the rest on my own?” Her voice roused him, and he watched, with what he can only imagine was a gaping mouth, as she smoothed down her stomach and her fingers disappeared below the ties of her breeches. She bit her lower lip and threw her head back, a long sensual moan rumbling deep in her throat.

This woman! Rylen laughed boisterously and nearly ran to the bed, tripping slightly over his blasted boots, and yanking them off with his heels as he went.

He eagerly followed her fingers with his own and made short work of her breeches and smalls. Before they had even crumpled to the floor, his hands were back on her, two digits pumping her as surely as she had seized him moments ago. He watched with rapt attention as her hands busied themselves with pulling on her own breasts, her eyes closed, her lovely mouth hanging open in a string of heavy pants and moans. The view had him bucking against her thigh, his body aching with need.

Rylen’s other hand smoothed over her hip and he trailed kisses down her lovely thigh.

Oh, Maker have mercy on his damned soul for enjoying this so much. A Qunari and a mage. The Maker would take him for this for sure. He slid another finger into her and groaned when she tossed her head back, keening. Fuck it, he decided, he was never that attached to his vows anyways.

Rylen reached her curls and caught her clit between his teeth, then eased the soft bite with the flat of his tongue working in tight circles.

“Ry-Rylen!” Her voice was thick with desire and was probably the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. If only he could make her scream now.

Fuck, fuck, fuck! He pulled his mouth and his fingers away suddenly and fumbled with his heavy cock. Maker, he couldn’t resist it any longer!

He slammed himself into her and felt her clench around his length. Fuck! Rylen’s fingers dug hard into the flesh of her thighs as his thrusts came fierce and fast. He shook the spinning from his head as he grated his teeth and prayed for stamina.

Keram met his every thrust with a hard slam of her hips, crying out for him. He watched as her hand traveled once again to her clit and she rubbed herself vigorously. Damn! This woman… He smiled wryly through the sweat rolling down his face. He was a goner, wasn’t he?

Pitching himself forward, Rylen clamped his mouth over one of her nipples, no easy feat when he was fucking her with such abandon. Scream for me, Qunari, he thought wildly. Scream, because I’m not going to—

And she hit it, hard. That crescendo he was looking for. The ragged shouts that he tore from deep in her throat mingled with his name, drawn out as harsh syllables. Sounded like magic. She clenched around him and a spout of downy feathers flew into the air as her back arched beneath him, throwing him off balance enough that he slipped out of her.

Not that it mattered much because, for fuck’s sake, he was finished. He came sticky and wet, still rocking against air, spurting himself over her stomach, and he groaned harshly as he never had before. Then her hand was around his cock again, coaxing everything he had from him. He twitched, groaning hard as she pulled, vicious in drawing out his orgasm until his legs trembled violently and he saw stars.

Glorious Qunari stars!

When she finally did release him, he sagged against her, falling happily, if exhausted, into her tits.

“You don’t disappoint, Captain,” Keram told him breathlessly, running her nails lightly over his scalp.

He sighed, shivering in utter delight and pressed his face further into her soft flesh. “Well… I’m here to serve, Inquisitor.”

Rylen grinned at the girlish giggle that escaped her lips. “Glad to hear it. The night is still young, after all. And, you owe me a new pillow, by the way.”

He lifted his face to fix her with his signature lopsided smile. He noticed a shred of fabric still hanging off one of her horns. “Oh, is that where the feathers came from, then?”

Keram threw a fistful of down into his sweaty face.

[whereismywarden]

Alright, so this is difficult but here goes.

I decided to prolong my hiatus indefinitely. Taking a few days off has made me realize just how much of a drag running this blog has become lately. It feels more like a chore than a hobby and I think that’s because I’m just not that into Dragon Age anymore? (at least atm...) I’ve been feeling this way for a while now, I don’t get that spark anymore, the one that lifts you up after a long day of work. DA is just not doing it for me anymore.

So yeah, I’m taking a break and I honestly don’t really know when I’ll be back (tho I suspect I’ll be back because I always come back for some reason). Who knows, I might try again after the holidays? I know I want to do another writing highlights post at the end of the year because, in spite of everything, it has been a good year for me overall. But beyond that, I don’t really know. There are also stuff happening in my life right now that make me feel a bit down and I don’t know when things are going to get better for me tbh.

That being said, I will keep writing. I have a few ongoing longfics and they are still very dear to my heart so I’m not abandoning them. But since I won’t be posting any updates on Tumblr, I suggest you subscribe to the fics or the OCs you’re interested in. I will put the links to my AO3 series under a cut (did you know you can subscribe to series?)

Well, that’s about it. I’m sorry to disappoint you all. If anyone wants to keep in touch, I have a discord, just hmu and I’ll give it to you.

My AO3

Ana Surana (Surana x Alistair; Surana x Carver)

Main Worldstate

Second Chances AU: Main Story / Misc. Fics

Warden Nemea AU

Alwyn Hawke (Hawke x Anders; Hawke x Rylen)

Violette Surana (Inquisitor x Samson)

Fire at the Heart of the World

Kallian Tabris (Tabris x Alistair)

Daylen Amell

Asaara Adaar (Adaar x Cullen)

Shaelyn Mahariel (Mahariel x Bethany)

Violetta Hawke

Misc. Dragon Age One-Shots

[briarfox13]

Writing WIPS

No one asked for them but here is a list of writing WIPS I have =P This list is mainly so I know what I’m doing =P 

These are little stories that introduce you to the world of my OC’s and their lives, problems and relationships <3 

Mass Effect

Zaeed x Shepard (NSFW) I blame you @lady-beira-adaar for showing us that video =P And I blame the ME Discord in general 

Saskia x Garrus

Selkie x Evfra (maybe NSFW? Depends on how it turns out)

Thane x Shepard 

Lost Love-Kaidan x Saskia x Garrus

Kaidan x Mara

Dragon Age 

Flower Crown-Bramble x Blackwall (almost done!!)

Sebastian x Merra Hawke (NSFW)

Solas x Zephyr (probably part of a set known as ‘The Wolf and the Wind)

Several Blackie x Cullen

A couple of Asha x Alistair 

Anders x Merra

Zephyr x Solas x Rylen

The Silent and the Strong-Grim x Inquisitor x Iron Bull

[reaping-cain]

A, C, D, E for the ask thing :D

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

Cullen x Inquisitor, Cullen x Lavellan, love love Cullen’s friendships with Dorian and Sera (omg, not enough of them tbh) – he just needs friends, really. I might be working on a little something with Branson (I blame @slothquisitor for making me care about him so much). Also Rylen x Keram (or any Adaar, really).

I also have a slight Cherik problem (I blame the actors, tbh). 

Gambit x Rogue 4eva. 

Let’s not forget Finn x Poe. Their bromance, their love. Whichever. I love it.

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

Sullen. I just…I see it and can appreciate the art as long as it’s the healthy and caring kind. I once read a fic where Samson manipulated Cullen and made him go rogue and it breaks my heart to this day. 

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

OK, chartering a different fandom but Dean x Benny from Supernatural? Again, I see it and I really want to believe but I just see them as the biggest bros to ever bro. For me, the unlikely broship outweighs the sweet promise of them as a cute couple. 

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

Don’t judge me, but 15yo me thought it would be hilarious if Gimli sang “My Heart Will Go On” while decapitating orcs. I’m not sure if it was meant to distract Legolas or he’s just a diehard Celine Dion fan but regardless, that stuck with me.  

The only silly contribution I have for Dragon Age is Cullen as a Mountie. It’s better than that stupid nutcracker outfit (THANKS BIOWARE FOR BRINGING THAT BACK FOR TRESPASSER AND HAVING THE MAN PROPOSE IN THAT STUPID SUIT). 

[halfblood-fiend]

Fictober 2019 - Day 4

From The Fictober 2019 event <3

Prompt 4 : “I know you didn’t ask for this.”

Fandom : Dragon Age: Inquisition

Words : 2,041

Warnings : canon character death

“I know you didn’t ask for this.” - Knight-Captain Rylen x Keram Adaar

Rylen hadn’t seen Keram for some time now. She’d gone missing somewhere in the afternoon, but her horse was still tied with the rest so he surmised that she couldn’t have gone far. Probably took a walk. The horned lass liked her time to herself and maybe needed it bad after Adamant. Maker knew he could use a breather himself, but there was always plenty shit to do. Best to let the Inquisitor have her peace.

So he took up looking after their sizable entourage to Skyhold. Between him and Commander Cullen, it was easy. Just like old times in Kirkwall. Only with fewer abominations and less bloody madness. 

But as the sun set over the Orlesian treetops and the first moon made its slow ascent over the Inquisition encampment, Rylen finally let himself get worried.

“You haven’t seen the Inquisitor, have you?”

“I haven’t.” Cullen looked up from his papers at Rylen and glanced around the tents as though Rylen hadn’t been doing the same fucking thing himself for hours. Together, they shuffled to the front of the ration line. It had been a hell of a lot longer earlier, but they had been too busy to stop. Now, the camp cook was already handing Cullen his share and filling the next bowl. “It was my understanding that looking after Keram was sort of your job now.”

“Har, har.”

Rylen eyed the steaming venison stew with the large roast potatoes in Cullen’s bowl and rubbed his face with one hand. Andraste’s ass, he was tired. And he wanted very badly to eat, to retire with Cullen to his tent, and maybe get slobbering drunk for good measure, but he couldn’t leave Keram out wherever she was. Not with a clear conscience.

The cook offered him a helping, and with a sigh, Rylen declined.

“Guess it’s time to do my job then,” he muttered. Rylen waved goodbye to Cullen and marched away from the welcoming smells of food and fires.

His stomach was very fucking unhappy with his chivalry.

So. Where could she have gone? If he was a tired, cranky, horned giantess, where would he go?

“She’s gone where she thinks it won’t hurt,” Cole said, suddenly appearing at Rylen’s elbow.

“Maker’s balls, Cole!” Rylen swore, leaping back and clutching his chest. “You’ll kill a man like that!”

“Sorry.” The boy dipped his head and his pale face disappeared beneath the wide brim of his patchwork hat.

“What do you mean, ‘she went where she thinks it won’t hurt’? She’s not…” Maker, he couldn’t even finish that sentence in his mind.

Cole’s eyes widened and his gaze snapped back up to Rylen’s. “No! No. I just… I followed her to see if I could help, though she usually doesn’t want my help. But this time… She hurts so loud and so hot. She seems very mad.”

Rylen chewed his lip. He’d had a hunch that Keram was hurting all through their slog across the countryside. Nay, ever since she returned with Hawke and her team and not Loghain. She’d been too close to the Warden to not be. Aye, Rylen knew, but he’d been too cowardly to do anything about it. Keram was seething throughout the whole trip, and Rylen never asked why.

What a sorry excuse for a partner you are, Rylen.

“Take me to her.”

Cole led Rylen much further from the camp than he would have thought Keram would wander but then stopped so suddenly at a sharp embankment that Rylen nearly bowled into him and knocked them both over the steep slope.

He didn’t seem to notice. “There.” Cole whispered, pointing out the way. “Through the ravine. She needs your help now, not mine.”

Don’t like the sound of that, Rylen thought as he thanked him and picked his way through the brush down the embankment.

A few steps closer and he could hear the rush of water. When Rylen ducked into the ravine, the roar became all he could hear. Then the path widened and opened up into a dimly lit glade with a shining, clear pool of water being fed by the small waterfall responsible for all that bloody racket. Hadn’t been here for a sodding minute and the spray was already forming droplets of water on his armor.

Damn, that’ll bloody rust, Rylen thought, brushing the metal plate as he squinted in the gloom looking for Keram.

Then the whole place lit up as a fireball whizzed past his head and exploded in the rock behind him.

Rylen dropped to the ground and drew his sword before he realized what was happening and rational sense could tell him that there could only be one person responsible for that.

“Come to slay me, Basvaarad?” Keram sneered. “Or will you just drag me back in chains to wither away in your Circles?”

Rylen spun towards the direction of her voice and found the vision herself crouched on a rock, naked and sopping wet, with a new flame ready and jumping in her hand. She looked like a feral thing, hackles raised and ready to strike. Rylen didn’t think she’d ever looked at him like that, like one of those sods she wouldn’t think twice about putting down. It stung in a way he couldn’t quite place.

But it’s your own fault, he told himself. Even though he’d been a soldier for so long it was second nature, Rylen cursed himself for reacting, for putting her on edge. He should have bloody known better. He should have seen this coming.

He should have known how to treat an angry mage.

Shaking the thought from his head, Rylen stood slowly. He sheathed his sword and held up his hands to her, swallowing any thrum of lyrium that wanted to burst to life. He refused to threaten her any more than he already had. "You know I'd never do that to you, lass. It would be a bloody crime putting you in a place like that. Besides, haven’t you heard? They don’t exactly exist anymore."

“Oh, if only your Chantry could hear that kind of blasphemous talk.”

Maybe he shouldn’t have, the sticky predicament he was in, but he found it too fucking funny. That she would still think, after all this, that he gave two single shits about what the Chantry thought... He laughed. Bitter. Hollow. Maybe he had never quite believed like the other boys and he was always just looking for a way out of the family business, but he certainly didn’t care for the Chantry now.

Not if it would deny him her.

“Something funny?” Keram hissed, low and dangerous like a sand viper.

“Fuck the Chantry, Keram,” Rylen said with feeling. “You think that if I cared about them, I’d be here? I only care about the Inquisition and what they stand for. And now? Honestly, lass, I now I mostly only care about you. If all I was was a Chantry dog, I’d be dead by now. Or worse." It occurred to him that he could have been like those beasts they hunted in the Approach if he had stayed with the Order. Would the red lyrium have been forced on him if he hadn't joined the Inquisition? Worse, would he have taken if willingly?

Keram’s lip curled and with a shout she hurled the fireball, not at him, like he assumed, but at the pool. With a high-pitched hiss the fire hit the water and curled away into a cloud of steam.

“Not that I’m not glad that wasn’t in my face, lass, but—”

“It’s a fool’s errand, caring for me. You can ask Warden Loghain how that sentimentality worked out for him.”

Rylen opened his mouth to speak but Keram barreled on.

“All those Wardens at Adamant,” she said scornfully, “How were they all so damn stupid? Loghain wanted to make things right—he was the only one with some sense, Shokrokar. But now he’s gone... because of them!” A new fireball leapt to life in her hands, this one crashing against the rock wall opposite them. “I never cared about any of this shit! I never cared about your stupid war for magic or the damn sky! I just…want to make things right. And all your foolish Orders and Circles and Emperors squabble and bicker while the world unravels… I am trapped here because no one else is willing to do anything!” The next fireball crashed into the waterfall, throwing a shower of droplets into the air. “Loghain was going to do something… and now he’s dead. What a waste.”

Once he realized Keram wasn’t cross with him at all, Rylen’s brain whirred to try and catch up. Cole was certainly right. She was hurting and she was mad.

Breathing hard through her nose, Keram curled around herself and rested her chin on her knees. She stared angrily at the water, seething and stewing. Cole had said she needed him now, but Rylen could hardly tell what she needed him for besides maybe target practice.

He approached her rock and the giantess didn’t move. He leaned against it and she didn’t look at him. Do something, you sod! Rylen hoisted himself onto the rough stone, settling himself close to Keram and he still didn’t get a face full of fire. In fact, once he was next to her, she dropped her head to his shoulder.

“Loghain was the best of that whole sorry lot,” she murmured, her voice thick.

Rylen momentarily recalled the man who he’d known so little yet heard so much of. Maybe he had given him good advice as far as Keram was concerned, but Loghain Mac Tir had also killed hundreds of people, started a civil war, tried to have his opponents poisoned, and sold men and women into slavery, just to name a precious few of the countless atrocities he committed as Regent during the Fifth Blight in Ferelden. ‘The best of the lot’ was not the way Rylen might have described him, but instead, he said, “Aye, lass. He was. I am so sorry for your loss.”

“It wasn’t just my loss! I am used to losing things, that’s not new. A leader like that is a loss to the entire Inquisition! I am tired of sending useful people to their deaths while spineless worms like Gaspard roam free. We need people of action, not pomp and circumstance.”

Rylen chuckled darkly. “Is this a bad time to remind you that you chose to let Gaspard live? And you gave him the Empire?”

“It is,” she growled.

“Look, lass…” Rylen turned his face to press a kiss to Keram’s forehead. For a half-second, he wondered if he would be thrown off for it, but the giantess remained snug and warm against him. “I know you didn’t ask for all this, but you’ve been navigating the whole Inquisitor thing better than most would have. Maker knows I wouldn’t have the patience for it. Not for the parties or the damned diplomacy… I don’t think I could even do Commander Cullen’s job! But you? You’re the most capable leader we could have hoped for. And I think Warden Loghain would have thought so too. Why else would the legendary ‘Hero of the River Dane’ have followed you into battle?”

“Because he was also the ‘Traitorous Teyrn’ and had nothing else to lose by following an oxman to his death.”

“Well, now, hold on.”

“Still,” Keram sighed over Rylen, “leaving a skilled general in the Fade was just as wasteful as sitting here moping about it is. There is no time for such weakness.”

With that, Keram rose in one fluid movement and leapt to the ground like a cat.

“It’s not weakness,” Rylen reminded her with a frown. “It’s grief. We lost many good soldiers in that siege. It’s not weakness to grieve for any of them, Loghain included.”

“We can argue the semantics if you wish,” Keram said as she picked her clothes up from another stone and pulled them on, “but I have no time for weakness or grieving. Perhaps when I have finished tearing Corypheus’ still-beating heart from his body with my teeth, I will find the time to grieve for Loghain.”

[halfblood-fiend]

From the Nonsexual Acts of Intimacy list:

♧: One character playing with the other's hair

For Rylen and his bab, Lessa. Though it’s more than just playing, but whatever. FITE ME

A Thousand Years

Rylen paused from weeding and cocked his head to the side. He held his breath as he listened harder, straining his ears. Maybe he was hearing things? Unlikely, since his hearing had been one of the first bloody things to go with his age. A fact that Keram loved to remind him of. Why do you need it? It’s not like you ever listened anyway, she would say as she and the girls laughed.

But then he did hear it again.

“Daaaaad!”

He shook his head and smiled to himself.

It was Lessa. Again.

Lessa had been beside herself for a whole damn week. The nearer this day drew, the worse she got. A few nights ago, he had found her standing in the yard with her blade well after midnight, without a jacket, in the dead of Haring. When asked, she claimed that she had been trying to practice stances until she realized she had completely forgotten all her footwork. Then she proceeded to shout that she should just give up and stay home forever. That came up a lot. Whenever anything—no matter how small—went wrong: “I should just stay home!”

Rylen wanted to agree, but it wasn’t because he didn’t believe in Lessa. His girl had been fighting since she could walk and her swordplay was impeccable, techniques coming next to natural for her. He was almost jealous. Rylen knew Lessa would do fine.

It was just a matter of convincing her of that.

What in the Void could she need now? Rylen wondered as he brushed off his hands and walked into their home.

“DAD—”

“Yes, lass, I’m here. What is it?” He followed her voice into the room she shared with her younger sister, Aban, and any calm he had found in his garden withered away. The place looked startling.

Where before, the girls had marked the place as their own over the years, everything that was on Lessa’s side was now gone. The walls were blank and empty, devoid of old finger paintings and her more recent drawings. Her shelves were empty, her chest open, abandoned and bare, all her clothes shoved into saddlebags. Earlier that week, he and Keram had helped Lessa pack away all her childhood toys, her books and anything she was leaving behind. They would wait for her in trunks in their attic until she decided she wanted them again. Whenever that might be. Lessa’s bed was neatly made, a stark contrast to Aban’s on the other side of the room, as disheveled as the haphazard piles of books strewn across the floorboards.

It made his heart ache to see it like this.

Lessa spun around in her vanity chair when he entered the room, and for a long moment, Rylen could have sworn it was Keram herself sitting there. She looked impossibly similar to her mother from their Inquisition days, except for the tangled mess of curly black hair sitting between her short horns and the look of utter exasperation on her face.

He smiled despite the tightness in his chest. “Well? What now? Do you need me to show you how to polish your armor—again?”

She pointed to the rat’s nest on her head, a manic and desperate gleam in her green eyes. “I don’t know what the fuck happened!? I can’t meet them like this! I couldn’t show my face ever again! AND I CAN’T FIX IT!”

“Hey, hey..” Rylen soothed, putting his hands up as he started to hear her panic. “Calm down. It doesn’t look that bad, actually. Like a new look. Maybe you can start a trend?”

Lessa shot him a dirty glare. “Where’s Mom?”

“She and Aban went into the city.” Rylen decided he shouldn’t add that it was to get away from Lessa’s fluctuating temper.

“WHAT? But I need her! She needs to fix this!” Lessa turned back to the mirror and looked at her hair in horror. Halfheartedly she picked up a brush and tried to yank it through her hair.

—until the handle broke off with a loud snap.

With a scream of frustration, she slammed her forehead onto the vanity table while Rylen tried to stifle his laughter.

“You know,” he said, struggling to keep his voice level, “I was the one who always did your hair when you were a wee thing. I could help you if you like.”

Lessa groaned. “I’m ruined!”

“Aw, come on. You never complained about it back then! And you looked so bloody cute.”

She fixed him with another glare, but the effect was diminished by the broken brush dangling limply from her head. “I despised those pigtails you used to do.”

“Ah. So…no pigtails then?”

Throwing her hands up in the air, Lessa stared, defeated, at her own reflection. “Sure. Why not? I’m already fucked anyway, so. Ugh! I should just—”

“—stay home. Yes, I know. Just let me wash my hands and I’ll be right back. You’ll be lovelier than the Empress of Orlais herself when I’m done with you.”

He was fairly certain he heard her grunt, “Doubt it,” as he left, but he just chuckled at her. He was glad to be able to spend these last few hours with her. She was going to be happy, he told himself. More than happy, even. She was going where she belonged—everyone had known it for years—and Cassandra would take great care of her… She had promised. Rylen knew…he knew he had to let her go eventually.

He just didn’t know “eventually” would be so bloody soon. Where the fuck had the last twenty years gone? He couldn’t for the life of him remember...

Rylen’s vision swam and he bit his lip to keep it from trembling.

When he returned to her room, Lessa was still miserable, but she had managed to wrestle the brush from her hair at least. Life was about small victories, he reminded her as he picked up the head of the brush in one hand and tried to pull his fingers through her hair with the other.

Untangling her hair was slow going. He worked from the ends of her thick, shoulder-length hair and gently eased out the tangles by hand when necessary. His baby said hardly a word while she watched him in the mirror, and soon she simply closed her eyes. Lessa had inherited the tighter curls from him and when Rylen apologized for it, she just shook her head.

“I should just cut it all off like mom did,” Lessa mused.

“But then how would anyone know you’re mine?” Rylen joked as he ran the brush in his palm through the length of her hair, testing for new tangles. “And not just a clone of your mother?”

“It’s not like my sense of humor gives it away,” she muttered and Rylen chuckled at her.

“Or your stubbornness.”

Lessa grinned as Rylen finally set the brush aside and reached for the wooden box of hairpins instead. “Or my farts.”

He glanced at her in astonishment. “Really? You’re going to attack me like that while I’m doing your hair for you? That wasn’t a smart move, Lessa Adaar. You did not get my sense, that’s for sure!”

“What sense? You married a Qunari. I don’t think you have room to talk.”

“Hey! You should be thanking me for that one, lass.”

Smirking, Lessa said, “Sure. Thank you, dad, for procreating profusely because you thought the world was ending.”

“Oh, yeah,” Rylen muttered, pinning the last dangling strand of hair into place. “Cassandra is going to love you…”

When he finished, he took a little step back and admired his handiwork. It wasn’t so bad. The bun was a wee bit off center, the ends of a pin or two sticking out, but on the whole, not horrible. Better than Lessa herself was doing at any rate.

Lessa checked it in the mirror, turning her head this way and that and then beamed. She looked back at his reflection and said, “Thank you, daddy.”

Rylen squeezed her shoulders in his hands and kissed her hair. “Of course, lass. Your mum’s not the only one that can save the day.”

She blinked rapidly, her voice soft. “I know.”

He admired their reflections for another moment.

When did he get so damn old? When his hair had gone silver at the temples, when his hearing went bad, when the crow’s feet in the corners of his eyes became permanent, he had never felt so bloody ancient. But now… He stared at Lessa, his little girl, a woman now sitting before him, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember when that had bloody happened. Where had he been? When did she grow up? He had been holding her tiny body in his arms just yesterday, hadn’t he? He couldn’t remember.

But she was grown now, as fierce and beautiful as her mother, and she was leaving him. Lessa, his baby, handpicked for the new Seekers of Truth, now to be in the closest sect to the Divine. Cassandra and Leliana had picked her out themselves. He had known they had their eye on her for ages, but he had foolishly hoped they would never take her away.

Cassandra was coming for her this afternoon.

And he hadn’t had nearly enough time with her.

“Don’t!” Lessa suddenly ordered, making Rylen jump. “Don’t you dare cry, Daddy! Because if you cry, then I’m gonna cry…” Her sentence dropped off with a sniff and she looked up at the ceiling and furiously started to fan her face. “I can’t cry! If I cry I’m going to ruin my makeup and then I’ll have to stay and fix it.”

Rylen couldn’t help himself. He pressed his fist to his mouth but it was already too late. His eyes burned and he couldn’t swallow past the lump in his throat. “You caught me,” he choked. “That was my plan the whole time.” He tried to laugh but it only came out as a sob.

“Daddy… I’m going to miss you so much.” Lessa stood up and threw her arms around his shoulders. Rylen, dwarfed by his little girl, buried his face into her uniform and couldn’t help the soft sobs that shook his chest.

“I’m going to miss you too, lass. You’re going to do great things.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” she sniffled. “You taught me everything I know.”

“I was happy to do it.” How could he feel this way? he wondered. So warm and so broken at the same damn time? Of all the shit in his lifetime, how was this the hardest thing he had ever done? Rylen tried to get a hold of himself, trying to grit his teeth and stop his shaking, but his heart would no longer respond to him. “Just…Just promise me you’ll give Cullen a run for his money. Replace that old dog as Right Hand.”

Lessa pulled away, and Rylen saw that her cheeks were as wet as his, the charcoal around her eyes running a little. She quickly wiped at them and smiled. “Daddy, I’m going to kick Cullen’s ass.”

Rylen reached up and wiped a streak of black away. “That’s my girl.”

I had to stop there because it was TOO MUCH FOR ME. It was just gonna become a mess anyways if I kept going.

Like...I dunno what happened, both of these stories were supposed to be nice and then they’re both about crying. Wow.

Anyway likes and reblogs are love and I’m going to go hide and cry

[whereismywarden]

Writing Masterpost

Sad Mages Worldstate

The Warden: Ana Surana (Ana x Daylen; Ana x Alistair; Ana x Carver)

The Champion: Alwyn Hawke (Alwyn x Anders; Alwyn x Rylen)

The Inquisitor: Violette Surana (Violette x Orsino; Violette x Samson)

Second Chances Worldstate

The Warden: Daylen Amell (Ana x Daylen)

The Inquisitor: Asaara Adaar (Asaara x Cullen)

Angry Dalish Worldstate

The Warden: Shaelyn Mahariel (Shaelyn x Bethany)

Lovers in the Dark Worldstate

The Warden: Kallian Tabris (Kallian x Alistair)

Homecoming Worldstate

The Warden: Elaine Cousland (Elaine x Nathaniel)

The Champion: Violetta Hawke (Violetta x Isabela)

Non-canon DA Stories

Misc. Dragon Age One-Shots

[whereismywarden]

OC Masterlist

@kiraia​ pointed out (rightfully so) that I made quite a few vague posts about my OCs, but that I’ve never properly introduced them. It’s true, mostly because I tend to wait until they are well developed to properly do anything with them, which doesn’t happen all that often. So consider this a formal introduction to my current OCs :)

(Under a cut because there are quite a bunch of them. I hope it works on mobile, because otherwise yikes! I’m very sorry.)

Sad Mages Worldstate

It’s probably the one I talk about the most. It’s the most developed worldstate, with the most developed OCs and I’ve written a lot of fics about them.

The Warden: Ana Surana [Tag | Complete bio | Fanfictions]

pairings: Ana x Daylen Amell (friends with benefits), Ana x Alistair (DAO romance), Ana x Carver (current pairing, now married) + I occasionally throw Isabela into the mix because reasons.

Born in the Gallows and taken to an orphanage in Highever until her magic manifested.

Grew up close to Anders, Jowan, Amell and (to a lesser extent) Finn.

Had a baby that she was forced to give to the Chantry.

Main DAO choices include: romancing Alistair, getting her heart broken after making him king, stupidly refusing to do Morrigan’s ritual and watching him sacrifice his life for her.

Later she starts dating Carver (whom she actually met at Ostagar where they had a brief fling before the Battle).

Takes part in the Mage Underground and helps Anders build his bomb.

Starts hearing the Calling shortly before DAI.

Is Hawke’s contact during HLtA.

The Champion: Alwyn Hawke [Tag | Complete bio | Fanfictions]

pairings: Alwyn x Anders (DA2 romance, on and off), Alwyn x Cullen (one time), Alwyn x Rylen (post DAI, considering making them endgame, not sure yet).

Purple Hawke.

Carver becomes a warden.

Supports the mages.

Develops a close friendship with Ana.

Breaks up with Anders after the Chantry explosion, wishing he’d trusted him enough to share his plan with him. They do get back together later on.

Is the first one to learn about Ana hearing the Calling.

Stays behind in the Fade during HLtA, but eventually finds a way out.

He was found by Inquisition scouts in the Western Approach, suffering from amnesia.

Later falls in love with Rylen.

(Note that I still need to update that last part into his bio.)

The Inquisitor: Violette Surana [Tag | Complete bio | Fanfictions]

pairings: Violette x Orsino (once twice), Violette x Samson (current partner).

Ana’s mum.

Orlesian who grew up in Ferelden during the occupation.

Was taken to the Gallows at age 13.

Was a close friend of Malcolm Hawke.

Had her baby (Ana) taken by the Chantry. Later escaped.

Hates the Chantry.

Attends the Conclave in the hopes that Ana might be there.

Starts sleeping with Samson after his capture because he basically said fuck the Chantry to her face and it turned her on.

Hardened Leliana becomes Divine.

Other OC: Neriah Amell-Hawke

Is Ana’s daughter. She got her out of the orphanage after the Blight (thanks, Leliana).

Her father is Daylen Amell. Carver adopted her when he married her mama.

Is 18 as of Trespasser.

Second Chances Worldstate

This one started off as an AU for a fic starring Ana and Alistair which is why these two worldstates are so similar. The point of divergence is that Jowan went to Amell for help instead of Ana for some reason.

The Warden: Daylen Amell [Tag | Fanfictions]

pairings: Day x Ana (friends with benefits), Day x Morrigan (DAO romance and while I did consider for a while not having him follow her through the eluvian, I changed my mind. There’s too much growth potential.)

His father was Maurevar Carver, because I say so.

Main DAO choices include: Sparing Loghain, Alistair becoming a drunk, not doing Morrigan’s ritual because he can just throw Loghain at the Archdemon (which he did).

Helps Ana get their daughter out of the Kirkwall orphanage. Bails on them right afterwards.

Does follow Morrigan through the eluvian and actually ends up being a decent dad to Kieran.

Does not become Ferelden’s Warden-Commander.

The Champion: Alwyn Hawke (yes, again)

Like I said, this was originally an AU, so it made sense to keep the same Hawke. There are quite a few differences, however.

pairings: none.

Does not bring Anders to the Deep Roads. Carver dies.

Suffers from severe depression afterwards.

Goes from purple to full blue after Leandra’s death.

Stays behind in the Fade. Probably won’t make it out in this worldstate.

The Inquisitor: Asaara Adaar [Tag | Fanfictions]

pairings: Asaara x Cullen (starts before DAI, now married).

Meets Cullen shortly before the Chantry explosion. They fall in love.

Not going into too much details because it will be part of Second Chances’ main story.

Other OCs: Ana Surana and Neriah [Main fic | Other fics]

Again, can’t go into too much detail because spoilers.

pairings: Ana x Carver (before the Deep Roads expedition anyway), Ana x Alistair.

Day brings Ana to Kirkwall shortly after the Blight to meet their daughter. She ends up staying after they get Neriah out of the orphanage.

Single mom. Works as a waitress.

They find drunk Alistair in their garbage. Ana wants to help him get better.

Other OC: Issala Adaar [Tag]

pairings: Issala x Varric (post-DAI).

Is Asaara’s overexcited little sister.

Likes to tinker with explosives.

Built a handheld cannon. It’s clunky, not very accurate and is prone to misfire. In other words, it still needs a lot of work.

Varric thinks she’s adorable so he made her his personal bodyguard.

Angry Dalish Worldstate

The Warden: Shaelyn Mahariel [Tag | Fanfictions]

pairings: Lyn x Tamlen (Origin), Lyn x Bethany, (considering Lyn x Alistair between DA2 and DAI but even that might be too cruel.)

Doesn’t want to be a warden.

DAO choices include: Alistair remaining with the wardens because he doesn’t want to be king.

No in-game romance, she was too heartbroken after losing Tamlen.

Eventually starts dating Bethany.

Travels to the Free Marches after the death of her clan to kill the man responsible.

Almost dies in the resulting fight against Hawke (thank the Creators Anders was there).

Goes home and confesses to Bethany that she almost killed her brother and that she would have done it had he not been so badass. They break up.

The two of them reconcile post-DAI, after Hawke and Merrill’s wedding.

The Champion: Kris Hawke [Tag]

pairings: Kris x Merrill (now married).

Blue Hawke.

Sadly couldn’t save Merrill’s clan.

Didn’t want to hurt Lyn that badly during their fight, he was just defending himself. Deeply regrets it afterwards.

The Inquisitor: no one specific yet, but likely a Lavellan romancing Solas.

Alistair stays behind in the Fade.

Elves in Luuuuv Worldstate

The Warden: Kallian Tabris [Tag | Fanfictions]

pairings: Tabs x Alistair (DAO romance)

Probably the most canon-compliant OC.

Main DAO choices include: making Alistair king with Anora as queen and becoming his mistress.

Madly in love.

Will have a happy ending.

No Hawke or Inquisitor yet.

Homecoming Worldstate

The Warden: Elaine Cousland [Tag]

pairings: Elle x Nathaniel (pre-DAO, now ex-husband), Elle x Leliana (DAO romance), Elle x Sebastian (current).

Was BFF with Anora during their childhood.

Actually met Sebastian before he was sent to the Chantry. The two of them had similar lifestyles back then, so when Elle visited Starkhaven with her father, the two of them developed a rivalry of sorts in their romantic pursuits (think Merteuil and Valmont, but a lot more light-hearted). They do spend one night together after learning that he is going to be sent to the Chantry.

Eventually fell in love and married Nate. They kept their relationship a secret, however. They divorced after the Blight.

Main DAO choices include: romancing Leliana, making Alistair king with Anora as queen, sparing Loghain and performing the ritual.

Her relationship with Leliana didn’t survive the distance.

Leaves the Wardens after the Chantry explosion and basically goes on the run from everyone because she feels responsible for what happened.

Helps Sebastian reclaim his throne. They fall in love. (I’m currently writing a fic about this, actually)

Still unsure about her DAI fate. Either she replaces Hawke in HLtA and stays behind in the Fade, or she becomes Inquisitor.

The Champion: Violetta Hawke [Tag | Fanfictions]

pairings: Letta x Isabela (DA2 romance).

Yes, she was totally named after Violette.

Is Kris’ sister.

Carver becomes a Templar.

Spared Anders.

Sails into the sunset with Isabela.

DAI fate will depend on what I decide to do with Elle.

The Inquisitor: no one yet.

Loghain survives HLtA.

I am considering having Neriah (yes, again) be the Herald with someone else as Inquisitor since she’s only a kid. In this worldstate, she grew up in Kirkwall’s orphanage before being taken to the Gallows. She escapes the massacre and Carver eventually takes her under his wing.

I'm planning to have two additional worldstates (I want one per warden origin). One called "Happy Dwarves" with a male Brosca romancing Zevran and one called "Dead Heroes" with a male Aeducan romancing Leliana (and probably Alwyn again, idk). I also have a couple of Cadashes that I want to put somewhere, a woman romancing Josie and a man romancing Divine Cassandra. Idk yet if they'll be Inquisitors or if I'll just add them to one of the existing worldstates. Odds are one will be Inquisitor while the other just tags along.

I probably missed a few things here and there, but that’s basically the gist of it. Thanks to anyone who actually stuck to the end, lmao.

[halfblood-fiend]

Keram x Rylen, Whose big spoon/little spoon; What their nicknames are for each other; Whose the better cook; Their song;

I sat on this for a little bit, but hey! It’s TMI Tuesday so I guess it’s kinda perfect. :D Thanks for asking, dear!

From OTP asks

Who is big spoon/little spoon?

Just because of their sizes, Rylen tends to be the little spoon more often than not while Keram snuggles him like a teddy bear. Sometimes, though, Rylen enjoys the novelty of being the big spoon... He just has to watch out for her hair and horns.

What are their nicknames for each other?

I experimented with “Ry” for a while as Keram’s nickname for Rylen, but honestly, I think that’s just my Californian mannerisms showing.

In actuality, Keram calls Rylen “Kadan” or just his name, “Rylen,” while Rylen will call her all sorts of colorful pet names like, “Giantess,” “Horned Lass,” “Temptress,” with whatever expletive applies at the time.

Who is the better cook?

That’s definitely Keram. As I mentioned way back when in this post, she can cook. It’s that Qunari trait of order and never wasting anything that her parents taught her. Eating is a necessity and why eat bad food when you could eat good food? So Keram is a great cook and usually cooks for her party out on the road as well as meals for Rylen.

Their song?

Golly.... Just one..? I have at least 3..

There’s Undisclosed Desires by Muse, I Put a Spell on You by Annie Lennox and Witchcraft by Frank Sinatra.

[halfblood-fiend]

"Do me a favor? Kiss my ass"

Rylen stared at the cards in his hand, utterly dumbfounded. He went through every string of profanities he could think of in his head, all the while trying to keep his face perfectly composed, so as not to let any of the other smirking players know how fucked he had made himself.

In hindsight, his hand had been utter shit from the beginning, but he had hoped to change them out for better. He gambled, and badly, but as Keram kept throwing coins into the ever growing pot, tossing him mocking glances, he couldn’t help but match her bet every time. She goaded him and he fell for it. It would look bad, he told himself over and over, to back down now, until his tune had changed. I’ve put in too much money to fold.

Stupid.

Now here he was, everyone had folded ages ago. Varric and Keram waited patiently for him to buy into the final round, and Maker take him, he was going to do it, but it would be bloody mortifying.

He fingered his cards, cocked an eyebrow, tried to smile—weak at bloody best—and threw another three sovereigns into the pot.

Varric nodded. “Ahhh. You had me worried there, Grumps. You in, Stormrider?”

Keram chuckled and lay her cards gingerly on the table. She grinned across the table at Rylen and leaned back in her chair, long arms stretching over her head. “Nope. Just you and the Knight-Captain in this one.”

Rylen’s eyes widened. “But you—”

She winked.

“Well, Grumps, show ‘em.”

“I—” Rylen flushed bright scarlet and begrudgingly flipped his cards over. He didn’t even have to look at Varric’s cards to know that he had just suffered a dismal loss.

“What the hell, Grumps? If it was that bad why didn’t you back out?” Varric asked, astonished, as he swept the pile of sovereigns closer to him.

“Yes, Rylen. Why didn’t you back out?” Keram asked mockingly, eyes twinkling.

“You bloody well know,” he spat through grit teeth.

Keram grinned. “You lost a lot of money. How much do you think, Varric?”

“Oh, do me a favor, lass? Why don’t you kiss my ass?” Rylen exploded. He shoved away from the table and snatched up his tankard.

“Happy to. Just bend over, Kadan.”

“Please,” Varric interrupted suddenly, “don’t. I don’t want that image in my head.”

I guess the plus side of this is that it helped me come up withy Varric’s nicknames for Keram and Rylen?

Kissy Sentence Starters

[halfblood-fiend]

Most Popular vs Least Popular

out of sheer curiosity on my part, I wanted to dig into my archive and see for myself which stories had the most notes and which had the least. So I kinda figured that if I wanted to know, maybe others would too? So I’ll tag some writer folks to do this (though I guess artists could do it too) with the simple rules:

What are your five most popular works?

What are your five least popular works?

Are you surprised? Why? 

Here we go.

Top Five

1) Quenching the Thirst in the Western Approach (Rylen x Adaar) - 112 notes

2) Blissful in Lace (Cassandra) - 102 notes

3) “Coward. That’s What You Are” (Nick Valentine x SS) - 101 notes

4) The Healer’s Heart (f!Handers) - 75 notes

5) Giving In (Cullen x Trevelyan) - 62 notes

Bottom Five

1) Ace of Hearts (Steve/Captain America x Clint/Hawkeye) - 0 notes

2) You Must Endure (Trey Lavellan) - 2 notes

3) Champions of the Just-Part 1 (Trevelyan) - 2 notes

4) The Fountain (young Adaar) - 3 notes

5) Skyhold Infested (Cullen x Trevelyan) - 3 notes

6) Champions of the Just-Part 2 (Trevelyan) - 3 notes

Am I surprised?

I mean, yes and no. I’m not surprised at all that Keram and Rylen head my most popular stuff, but I am a little surprised that Cassandra’s piece took off like crazy? And I’m always EXTRA FUCKING surprised whenever I get notes for Vee and Valentine?? Because that shit is actually pretty regular but that piece isn’t even 600 words. And, yeah, Cullen smut appears in the top five, not a surprise seeing as sex absolutely sells.

Tbh, I am a wee bit surprised that Ace of Hearts didn’t get ANY on Tumblr. I know it’s a crack ship (like...I don’t even KNOW where that came from because I don’t even ship them, like ????), but that is literally my most popular work on both AO3 AND FF.net. I still get emails about it even though I just want it to die sometimes. But I’m not surprised that my Trev gets no love. I don’t think my Champions of the Just pieces even actually have 2/3 notes because they were liked by exes who I blocked. P sure they didn’t even get read. Which is unfortunate because I adore them. They were my real babies. I mean I cried while writing them! If I redid them, though, I’d fix it to make the audience cry more and me less. There were some pacing issues. I’m not surprised Skyhold Infested got nothing, it was just...i dunno. It didn’t make any sense. And The Fountain was written when I was in a real writing funk so maybe it was shit?

That was pretty fun and there was so real weird stuff. Haha. So I guess I’ll tag all my writer peeps? :D There’s absolutely no push to do this because it def took a little while for me to do. Iunno. Up to you!

@slothquisitor @thesecondsealwrites @scumbag-solas @barbex @inuy21 @cullenstairshenanigans @more-aoe @therutherfordwife @daisytje @loonyloopy @mysdrym @sagefic @thexann  

Is that everybody? I don’t? Can’t be, but I feel bad for tagging so many. Lol.

[halfblood-fiend]

As day one of serious writing begins I'll be looking into all of the stories I have lined up to write. So that will be: -my novel (dun duuuun) -A Qunundrum (Rylen x Adaar) -At the End of All Things (Red Templar Cullen AU) -The Only One He Ever Loved (a Tom Riddle romance; I probably won't post this one around here, but a gap in updates might mean I've been working on a chapter for that instead of the others) I'm exited, I think. Whenever I'm not terrified anyway. I'm hoping to post every two weeks? Maybe? Fingers crossed anyway. In the meantime, it's TMI Tuesday and feel free to ask me anything. Be it about this, about other things, about OCs *cough* Rethaad too *cough*, about whatever. I'd love to answer things while I plan all my stories out at a local cafe I am low-key using as an "office" lmao. Oh, and for anyone new here, I'm a writer and I tag everything. If you need a special tag, shoot me an ask. ;)

[halfblood-fiend]

The Way You Said “I Love You” Prompts

8, 16, and 17: As an apology; Over and over again, till it’s nothing but a senseless babble; When the broken grass litters the floor 

The glass glittered on the stone floor like tiny gems in the candlelight. Their many faceted reflections dripping with the sickly blue liquid whose song hadn’t left Rylen’s throbbing head in what felt like ages. His eyes were glued to the floor, fascinated by the viscus pooling of lyrium around shattered glass shards. It consumed everything, running cobalt through the cracks in the stone floor, forming rivers along the grout of the stones. He could smell it. Sweet and sharp, burning his nostrils with each shaky breath. Rylen couldn’t understand it. So fragile a thing that causes so much grief. One moment he had held the vial, content to finally succumb to the madness, to finally end the self-induced torment of quitting the bloody drug, and then—

His eyes slowly found her, focusing dimly as if through a haze. She was the woman that had knocked the vial from his lips and crushed his entire philter beneath her boot.

She was his salvation.

Rylen crumpled to his knees before her. She, the angelic spirit disguised as a demon of desire, the sword to his shield, the light of his life, the most unexpected spirit of fury that had taken over his being. He would have given it to her willingly time and time again.

“I love you.” Strangled. Hoarse. Shaking. Weak. Never how he would have wanted to say it. Never how she wanted to hear it. True nonetheless. “I love you. I…love you. I love you. I love you—”

He’d say it forever. As long as it took for her to forgive.

Keram sunk to her knees beside him and took his shaking body into her arms. He was so small by comparison, so insignificant to her, and yet she cradled him to her chest and told him it was all right.

Rylen could do nothing but swear he loved her over and over until words were lost within sobs.

Somebody take the fucking lyrium angst AWAY FROM ME

[halfblood-fiend]

What would RYLAN do if KERAM cheated?

Ohhh Nonny….

See, this is funny because as soon as I had the other one, Igot to wondering the very same thing. And while Keram’s reaction depended onhow long they had been together, I don’t think Rylen’s would. He’s pretty clearcut about these things, and as we can all tell (Rylen knows too even if hepretends not to) that he has completely fallen for Keram. Yeah….I don’t thinkthat would fly with him.

Early:

Rylen shook as he blindly tried to get as far away from Keram’s room as possible. He should have fucking known. He should have seen it. He was right to be jealous of the mercenary after all.

He didn’t really know what the fuck had led him to Keram’s room. Maybe just to say hello? Spend time with her? How bloody foolish of him, that. Who in his right mind would spend time with the lass they couldn’t stop thinking about?

And that’s where he had found them.

Suddenly furious, Rylen swiped his fist at the wall as he passed which he instantly regretted. Swearing a long line of curses that could have made a sailor blush, he cradled his throbbing–and possibly bloody broken–hand close to his chest.

You fucking idiot, Rylen. You let yourself get sucked in and now…

He paused and took deep, rattling breaths. He felt more winded than he should have been. He felt like he had taken a kick to the chest. Neither of which he should have let happen. Rylen should never have followed her that night. He should have politely turned her down and retired to his own room. It would have saved him all this bloody trouble.

And then he wouldn’t have felt so stupid for believing he had a fighting chance.

Middle (I’ll make this post-pregnancy because otherwise…???):

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Rylen gaped at Keram. A withdrawal headache ripped his fucking skull apart, Lessa was sick with a cold and did nothing lately but scream. Between the two, he wanted nothing more than to beat his head against a wall until it either went away or he died. And now he felt like he could have happily thrown himself over the railing’s of Keram’s balcony.

“I changed my mind, Kadan,” Keram said, level as ever. She was unreadable, blatant. She was everything Rylen had started to believe he had gotten past during her pregnancy, but here she was, the ruthless Qunari yet again. She went to Lessa’s bassonette and picked up the shrieking babe. Rylen almost snarled at her to put his daughter down. He didn’t want something pure–even if she was snotty right now–to be defiled by Keram’s infidelity.

Rylen gnashed his teeth and bent almost double with the lances of agony that stabbed behind his eyes.

“You are unhappy, Rylen,” he heard Keram say over Lessa’s thick coughs. “We both know it–”

“I would have struggled through it all for you both!” Rylen cried, regaining enough control over his head to open a watering eye. “It would have been fucking worth it. Every Maker-damned second! Until you jumped ship early!”

Keram was silent for a while, regarding him. She couldn’t have been serious trying to make it out as if she was doing him any favors. Not when he was six months off lyrium and she had run around Thedas playing hero while he stayed in Skyhold and took care of Lessa.

It would seem she had been doing more than play hero, Rylen corrected bitterly.

“I am releasing you from your obligation,” she said quietly. “We no longer have to do this, Kadan. I think it will be better for us both. I have found another partner and now you can do the same. Go and be happy, Kadan.”

His lip trembled and Rylen just barely convinced himself it was because of the headache, and not the raw hole that he felt had just ripped through his chest. The pain, all the fucking pain, was driving him completely mad. His fingers fumbled at the heavy dragon’s tooth around his neck and when he grasped the cold, serrated edge, he yanked hard. As the cord snapped, a burst of pain shot through his hand. With everything in him threatening to split a part, he hardly gave a fuck about one more injury. “We could have been fucking happy.” He shoved the bloodied necklace into her free hand and reached for his baby.

“I hope you’re prepared to take Lessa out with you,” Rylen spat. “Because if you don’t, neither of us will be here when you get back.”

Late:

Rylen didn’t listen to a word Keram said. She could assure him as much as she wanted that it was behind her, that it was never serious, that it didn’t matter because she always came back home, but he would hear none of it. Blind rage and furious hurt raged inside him and closed up his throat until every breath was a choke. He couldn’t even stand to look at the damn woman. He shook off her hand and ignored her close footsteps as they stomped through the fields and into the house.

“Lessa! Aban!” he roared as soon as he flung the door open, “Pack your things!”

“Rylen!” Keram growled. “Stop this.” She grabbed him forcefully this time and spun him to face her. He tried to fight her off but her fingers dug too hard into his arm. His face twisted from the pain, but her refused to give her the satisfaction of a noise.

“Dad?”

“Go pack, Lessa! Tell Aban. We’re going to your grandmother’s house for a while.”

“The hell you are,” Keram hissed.

“You’re not going to stop me, Keram,” Rylen shot back.

“Mum? Daddy?”

“Damn it, girls, do what I tell you!”

“You’re not running away. You’re not taking them–”

“Well I can’t stand to be near you another second!”

Keram sneered and he could feel the heat that radiated off her as her magic sprung up to match her feelings. Her hand on his arm was burning uncomfortably but Rylen would not squirm. Let her incinerate me, he thought. The girls would never fucking forgive her. She took deep breaths and somewhat disappointed, he felt the heat abate.

“So that is the way you want it then?” Keram breathed, no less angry, Rylen noted. “No discussion. No nothing. You are just going to leave with my children.”

“You clearly didn’t care too much about them, Keram! So, no, I don’t think there is anything to discuss, and there’s certainly nothing worth salvaging.”

She shook her head at him, and turned away. Rylen was pleased for a moment to see her face fall but when she spoke, voice thick with tears, he almost lost it himself. “Don’t go. That is unnecessary. You all have roots here; I am the one with nothing.”

With nothing else to do, Rylen followed his wife out the door and onto the open porch and watched her as she just…walked away. She made it look so fucking easy. She made everything look easy. He loved her for that. She was everything he had come to respect, everything he had ever wanted in a woman and a wife. Even now she still looked the part of the proud warrior he loved so fiercely. Her head was high. She strode purposefully out of their lives and Rylen couldn’t help but be swallowed with regret. What could he have done different? What had he done to drive her away? The hurt crippled him. He didn’t know, wouldn’t have thought her capable. He thought that she had loved him as much as he loved her. The betrayal of what she did ripped hole after hole in his chest until he could hardly stand anymore with the force of its weight. His agony and hurt roiled inside him until he was sick with it. It took all his energy from him, leeched all coherent thought.

Keram! He wanted to call, he wanted to run to her, he wanted to collapse to the ground and never move again.

He sagged against the porch railing and let the tears he had choked back fall. Rylen let the strangled sobs strain in his chest and tried his best to grieve for his lost life as quietly as he could.

He heard the door open behind him but he couldn’t even muster the will to compose himself. “Dad?” he heard Lessa ask.

“G-go back inside…”

She didn’t listen. The bloody girl never did. Rylen felt her arms wrap around him, the soft press of her hair against is cheek, her head resting carefully on his shoulder.

Then he felt the soft embrace on his other side, Aban mirroring her sister, burying her wet face into his neck. He heard his Firecracker sniffle and Rylen couldn’t stay quiet anymore.

Wow, these got away from me. I hope you’re happy Nonny! Because I am crying!

[halfblood-fiend]

What would Keram do if she found out Rylan was cheating?

Well, Nonny,

My first thought was that Keram would rip his head off and throw the pieces in the trashcan where they belonged without even looking back.

But then I realized that it would probably depend on what stage of their relationship they were in.

Early:

Keram stopped dead when she walked into what she thought would be an abandoned corridor of Griffon’s Wing.

With a little gasp, a scout detached herself rather wetly from Rylen’s lips and stumbled back. Keram cocked her head and regarded the girl and the Captain, both of whom had the good graces to blush and stammer. Something small like a sigh in her heart escaped her before she made herself smile and look into Rylen’s entrancing eyes. “You keep your options open, Basavaarad. Good thinking.” Keram nodded to the both of them as she passed, and continued on her way.

Middle (preggo):

She had heard the whispers and had come to the logical conclusion long before they became rumors. Keram was ready enough for the news if the basra would ever have to balls to tell her. She liked to think he would. There had been no part of Rylen that would ever maker her suspect he was a coward. Except perhaps that he had taken a new lover behind her back.

Too long apart too often. Keram had been half a fool to believe the hushed promises he had made to her when he had still been high on the adoration that comes with the news of impending parenthood. Or maybe it was because of fear of the future that Rylen had taken someone else?

Whichever, Keram didn’t care to know. The meaning was still the same.

For all his words of love, Keram had been correct in her assessment. Rylen did not want a Qunari for a wife after all. She should have known better than to believe such a thing.

Late:

“You, WHAT?”

Rylen backed away from Keram, his hands up in some gesture of surrender that Keram was heedless of. She could feel the rage boiling beneath her skin and from the way her fingers prickled and warmed, her magic was raising to fuel her.

“Lass, it was just a-a one time thing, really. An accident!”

“Vasha-qalab! Accident?? BASRA VASHEDAN!” The ground bubbled and heated where Keram stepped, the dirt turning black and red. Rylen kept backing away, eyes darting down to the tongues of flame that licked Keram’s fingers.

“I’m sorry, kadan. I’m sorry!”

“Don’t call me that, basra!” Keram snarled. The way his face crumpled satisfied her. 

“No, Keram! But what about Lessa and Aban–”

“Parshaara!” She waved their daughters away with a scattering of flames. Rylen flinched away from the magic he no longer had the capacity to combat. “Better they go without a father than to know of his deceit!”

“I won’t fight you, Keram.”

“You will not have to,” she sneered. “Ashkost say hissra, basra…”

Oooooh Rylen…you done did it…..

Haha. Thanks for the ask, Nonny. :D